Network television processing multiple applications and method for controlling the same

ABSTRACT

A display device receives first data indicative of a plurality of downloaded applications and then displays the first data in different areas on a screen corresponding respective ones of the applications. Also, second data is assigned to the applications, with the second data indicative of a different order or rank of the applications. The second data is displayed with the first data on the screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e), This application claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/422,651 filed on Dec. 13, 2010,which is hereby incorporated by references as if fully set forth herein.

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a), This application also claims the benefitof the Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0133283 filed on Dec. 23,2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forthherein.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

One or more embodiments described herein relate to controlling thedisplay of information.

2. Background

Televisions, monitors, and other types of image display devices receivevarious types of content including internet-based information, broadcastimages, and games. These devices can also run applications downloadedthrough a network. Given the large number of available applications, onefocus of system designers is to provide an efficient way of assistingusers in managing and/or selecting downloaded applications to beexecuted. Even when the number of applications is not large, ways ofconveniently and/or efficiently displaying applications for selection byviewers are of interest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows one type of broadcast system with a display device.

FIG. 2 shows another type of broadcast system with display device.

FIG. 3 shows one way in which the display device in FIG. 1 or 2 mayaccess a service provider and receive channel and other information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of data used in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows one display device that may be used in FIG. 1 or 2.

FIG. 6 shows another display device that may be used in FIG. 1 or 2.

FIGS. 7 and 8 shows one example where the display device is providedseparately from a set-top box. Of course, in other embodiments, thecircuits and/or software for receiving network, programming, and otherinformation may be included within the display device itself.

FIG. 9 shows an operation which may be performed for communicating withone or more third devices in a display device such as shown in FIG. 1 or2.

FIG. 10 shows one type of controller that may be used in FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 shows a platform architecture for a display device in FIG. 1 or2.

FIG. 12 shows another type of platform architecture for a displaydevice.

FIG. 13 shows a remote controller for controlling a display device.

FIG. 14 shows another view of a remote controller for the displaydevice.

FIG. 15 shows a first type of user interface for a display device.

FIG. 16 shows a second type of UI for a display device.

FIG. 17 shows a third type of UI for a display device.

FIG. 18 shows a fourth type of UI for a display device.

FIG. 19 shows an example of a Main Home screen of a network TV.

FIG. 20 shows an example of modules used in the network TV.

FIG. 21 to FIG. 23 show steps included in one method used forcategorizing downloaded applications and for displaying the categorizedapplications in the network TV or another type of display device.

FIG. 24 shows a first screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 25 shows a second screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 26 shows a third screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 27 shows a fourth screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 28 shows a fifth screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 29 shows a sixth screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 30 shows a seventh screen for displaying downloaded applications.

FIG. 31 shows an embodiment of a method for controlling a network TV.

FIG. 32 illustrates a display device according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a broadcast system with an image displaydevice. This system may include a Content Provider (CP) 10, a ServiceProvider (SP) 20, a Network Provider (NP) 30, and a Home Network EndDevice (HNED) 40. The HNED 40 corresponds to, for example, a client 100which is an image display device, which may be a network TV, a smart TV,an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), as well as other types of TVs, monitors,and display devices. For convenience purposes, all of these devices aregenerically be referred to herein as a network TV.

The CP 10 creates and provides a variety of content. The CP 10 may be,for example, a terrestrial broadcaster, a cable System Operator (SO) orMultiple System Operator (MSO), a satellite broadcaster, or an Internetbroadcaster, as in FIG. 1. Besides broadcast content, the CP 10 mayprovide various applications, which will be described later in detail.

The SP 20 may provide content received from the CP 10 as a servicepackage. For instance, the SP 20 may package first terrestrialbroadcasts, second terrestrial broadcasts, cable MSOs, satellitebroadcasts, various Internet broadcasts, and applications and providethe package to users.

The SP 20 may unicast or multicast a service to the client 100. Unicastis a form of transmission in which data is sent from only onetransmitter to only one receiver. In an example of unicast transmission,upon receipt of a request for data from a receiver, a server transmitsthe data to only one receiver. Multicast is a type of transmission orcommunication in which a transmitter transmits data to a group ofreceivers. For example, a server may transmit data to a plurality ofpre-registered receivers at one time. For multicast registration,Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) may be used.

The NP 30 may provide a network over which a service is provided to theclient 100. The client 100 may construct a home network end user (HNED)and receive a service over the HNED.

Content transmitted in the above-described system including the imagedisplay device may be protected through conditional access or contentprotection. CableCard and Downloadable Conditional Access System (DCAS)are examples of such conditional access or content protection systems.

The client 100 may also transmit content over a network. In this case,the client 100 serves as a CP and thus the CP 10 may receive contentfrom the client 100. Therefore, an interactive content service or dataservice can be provided.

FIG. 2 illustrates the overall configuration of a broadcast systemincluding an image display device according to another embodiment. Asshown, the image display device 100 is connected to a broadcast networkand the Internet. The image display device 100 is, for example, anetwork TV, a smart TV, an HBBTV, etc. Once again, these devices may bereferred to as a network TV for convenience.

The image display device 100 includes, for example, a broadcastinterface 101, a section filter 102, an Application Information Table(AIT) filter 103, an application data processor 104, a broadcast dataprocessor 111, a media player 106, an Internet Protocol (IP) processor107, an Internet interface 108, and a runtime module 109.

The image display device 100 receives AIT data, real-time broadcastcontent, application data, and stream events through the broadcastinterface 101. The real-time broadcast content may be referred to aslinear Audio/Video (A/V) content.

The section filter 102 performs section filtering on the four types ofdata received through the broadcast interface 101, and outputs the AITdata to the AIT filter 103, the linear A/V content to the broadcast dataprocessor 111, and the stream events and application data to theapplication data processor 104.

Meanwhile, the image display device 100 receives non-linear A/V contentand application data through the Internet interface 108. The non-linearA/V content may be, for example, a Content On Demand (CoD) application.

The non-linear A/V content and the application data are transmitted tothe media player 106 and the runtime module 109, respectively.

The runtime module 109 includes, for example, an application manager anda browser as illustrated in FIG. 2. The application manager controls thelife cycle of an interactive application using the AIT data, forexample. The browser displays and processes the interactive application.

The game application according to one embodiment is received through thebroadcast interface 101 or the Internet interface 108 shown in FIG. 2.The game application received through the broadcast interface 101 istransmitted to the runtime module 109 through the application dataprocessor 104. The game application received through the Internetinterface 108 is transmitted to the runtime module 109 through the IPprocessor 107. The runtime module 109 executes the game application.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing steps in one type of method in which theimage display device in FIG. 1 or 2 accesses an SP and receives channeland other information.

In this diagram, the SP performs an SP discovery operation (S301). Theimage display device transmits an SP attachment request signal (S302).Upon completion of attachment to the SP, the image display devicereceives provisioning information from the SP (S303). Further, the imagedisplay device receives Master System Information (SI) Tables (S304),receives Virtual Channel Map Tables (S305), receives Virtual ChannelDescription Tables (S306), and receives Source Tables from the SP(S307). More specifically, SP Discovery is a process by which SPs thatprovide IPTV services search for servers providing services to the SPs.

In order to receive information (e.g., SP discovery information) aboutthe service discovery (SD) servers, an SD server address list can bedetected, for example, using three methods, specifically use of anaddress preset in the image display device or an address manually set bya user, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-based SP Discovery,and Domain Name System Service (DNS SRV)-based SP Discovery. The imagedisplay device accesses a specific SD server using the SD server addresslist obtained through one of the above three methods and receives an SPDiscovery record from the specific SD server. The Service ProviderDiscovery record includes information needed to perform ServiceDiscovery on an SP basis. The image display device then starts a ServiceDiscovery operation using the SP Discovery record. These operations canbe performed in a push mode or a pull mode.

The image display device accesses an SP attachment server specified byan SP attachment locator included in the SP Discovery record andperforms a registration procedure (or a service attachment procedure).Further, after accessing an authentication service server of an SPspecified by an SP authentication locator and performing anauthentication procedure, the image display device may perform a serviceauthentication procedure.

Once service attachment is successfully completed, a server may transmitdata to the image display device in the form of a provision informationtable.

During service attachment, the image display device may include anIdentifier (ID) and location information thereof in data and transmitthe data to the service attachment server. Thus the service attachmentserver may specify a service that the image display device hassubscribed to based on the ID and location information. In addition, theservice attachment server provides, in the form of a provisioninginformation table, address information from which the image displaydevice can obtain Service Information (SI). The address informationcorresponds to access information about a Master SI Table. This methodfacilitates provision of a customized service to each subscriber.

The SI is divided into a Master SI Table record for managing accessinformation and version info nation about a Virtual Channel Map, aVirtual Channel Map Table for providing a list of services in the formof a package, a Virtual Channel Description Table that contains detailsof each channel, and a Source Table that contains access informationabout actual services.

The image display device shown in FIG. 3 receives the game applicationaccording to one embodiment from the SP or a virtual channel provided bya broadcast station.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data used in the steps shownin FIG. 3, and of a relationship that may exist among data in the SI. Inthis example, a Master SI Table may contain information about thelocation and version of each Virtual Channel MAP.

Each Virtual Channel MAP is identified by its Virtual Channel MAPidentifier. Virtual Channel MAP Version specifies the version number ofthe Virtual Channel MAP. If any of the tables connected to the Master SITable shown in FIG. 4 in the arrowed direction is modified, the versionsof the modified table and overlying tables thereof (up to the Master SITable) are incremented. Accordingly, a change in any of the SI tablescan be readily identified by monitoring the Master SI Table.

For example, when the Source Table is changed, the version of the SourceTable is incremented and the version of the Virtual Channel DescriptionTable that references the Source Table is also incremented. Inconclusion, a change in any lower table leads to a change in its highertables and, eventually, a change in the Master SI Table.

One Master SI Table may exist for each SP. However, in the case whereservice configurations differ for regions or subscribers (or subscribergroups), an SP may have a plurality of Master SI Tables in order toprovide a customized service on a unit basis. Thus it is possible toefficiently provide a customized service to a subscriber through themaster SI table according to a region in which the subscriber is locatedand subscriber information regarding the subscriber.

A Virtual Channel Map Table may contain one or more virtual channels. AVirtual Channel Map includes not only details of the channels butinformation about the locations of the details of the channels. In theVirtual Channel Map Table, Virtual Channel Description Locationspecifies the location of a Virtual Channel Description Table includingthe details of the channels.

The Virtual Channel Description Table contains the details of thevirtual channels. The Virtual Channel Description Table can be accessedusing the Virtual Channel Description Location of the Virtual ChannelMap Table.

A Source Table provides information necessary to access actual services(e.g. IP addresses, ports, AV Codecs, transmission protocols, etc.) on aservice basis.

The above-described Master SI Table, the Virtual Channel Map Table, theVirtual Channel Description Table and the Source Table are delivered infour logically separate flows, in a push mode or a pull mode. Forversion management, the Master SI Table may be multicast and thusversion changes can be monitored by receiving a multicast stream.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of one configuration of a image display device 500as shown in FIG. 1 or 2. The structure of the image display device inFIG. 5 is purely exemplary and should not be interpreted as limiting thescope of the present invention.

The image display device 500 includes a network interface 501, aTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) manager 502, aservice delivery manager 503, a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 505, a ProgramSpecific Information (PSI) & (Program and System Information Protocol(PSIP) and/or SI) decoder 504, an audio decoder 506, a video decoder507, a display A/V and OSD module 508, a service control manager 509, aservice discovery manager 510, a metadata manager 512, an SI & metadatadatabase (DB) 511, a User Interface (UI) manager 514, and a servicemanager 513.

The network interface 501 transmits packets to and receives packets froma network. More specifically, the network interface 501 receivesservices and content from an SP over the network.

The TCP/IP manager 502 is involved in packet reception and transmissionof the image display device 500, that is, packet delivery from a sourceto a destination. The TCP/IP manager 502 classifies received packetsaccording to appropriate protocols and outputs the classified packets tothe service delivery manager 505, the service discovery manager 510, theservice control manager 509, and the metadata manager 512.

The service delivery manager 503 controls reception of service data. Forexample, when controlling real-time streaming data, the service deliverymanager 503 may use the Real-time Transport Protocol/Real-time TransportControl Protocol (RTP/RTCP). If real-time streaming data is transmittedover RIP, the service delivery manager 503 parses the received real-timestreaming data using RTP and transmits the parsed real-time streamingdata to the DEMUX 505 or stores the parsed real-time streaming data inthe SI & metadata DB 511 under the control of the service manager 513.In addition, the service delivery manager 503 feeds back networkreception information to a server that provides the service using RTCP.

The DEMUX 505 demultiplexes a received packet into audio data, videodata and PSI data and transmits the audio data, video data and PSI datato the audio decoder 506, the video decoder 507, and the PSI & (PSIPand/or SI) decoder 504, respectively.

The PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 504 decodes SI such as PSI. Morespecifically, the PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 504 receives anddecodes PSI sections, PSIP sections or SI sections demultiplexed by theDEMUX 505. The PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 504 constructs an SI DB bydecoding the received sections and stores the SI DB in the SI & metadataDB 511.

The audio decoder 506 and the video decoder 507 decode the audio dataand the video data received from the DEMUX 505 and output the decodedaudio and video data to a user through the display A/V and OSD module508.

The UI manager 514 and the service manager 513 manage the overall stateof the image display device 500, provide UIs, and manage other managers.The UI manager 514 provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in the formof an OSD and performs a reception operation corresponding to a keyinput received from the user. For example, upon reception of a key inputsignal regarding channel selection from the user, the UI manager 514transmits the key input signal to the service manager 513.

The service manager 513 controls managers associated with services, suchas the service delivery manager 503, the service discovery manager 510,the service control manager 509, and the metadata manager 512.

The service manager 513 also creates a channel map and selects a channelusing the channel map according to the key input signal received fromthe UI manager 514. The service manager 513 sets the audio/video PacketID (PID) of the selected channel based on SI of the channel receivedfrom the PSI & (PSIP and/or SI) decoder 504 in the demultiplexer 505.

The service discovery manager 510 provides information necessary toselect an SP that provides a service. Upon receipt of a channelselection signal from the service manager 513, the service discoverymanager 510 detects a service based on the channel selection signal.

The service control manager 509 takes charge of selection and controlservices. For example, if a user selects a live broadcasting service,such as a conventional broadcasting service, the service control managerselects and controls the service using Internet Group ManagementProtocol (IGMP) or Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). If the userselects Video on Demand (VoD), the service control manager 509 selectsand controls the service using RTSP.

RTSP supports trick mode for real-time streaming. Further, the servicecontrol manager 509 may initialize and manage a session through an IPMultimedia Control (IMC) gateway using IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) andSession Initiation Protocol (SIP). The protocols are only exemplary andthus other protocols are also applicable.

The metadata manager 512 manages metadata related to services and storesthe metadata in the SI & metadata DB 511.

The SI & metadata DB 511 stores the SI decoded by the PSI & (PSIP and/orSI) decoder 504, the metadata managed by the metadata manager 512, andthe information required to select an SP, received from the servicediscovery manager 510. The SI & metadata DB 511 may store system setupdata.

The SI & metadata DB 511 may be constructed in a Non-Volatile RAM(NVRAM) or a flash memory.

An IMS Gateway (IG) 550 is a gateway equipped with functions needed toaccess IMS-based IPTV services.

The UI manager 514 of the image display device 500 shown in FIG. 5serves to control the game application according to the one embodiment.In particular, the UI manager 514 operates according to a user inputsignal.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of another configuration of a image display device600 that may be used in FIG. 1 or 2. The image display device 600includes a broadcast receiver 605, an external device interface 635, amemory 640, a user input interface 650, a controller 670, a display 680,an audio output unit 685, a power supply 690, and a camera module (notshown). The broadcasting receiver 605 may include a tuner 610, ademodulator 620 and a network interface 630. As needed, the broadcastingreceiver 605 may be configured so as to include only the tuner 610 andthe demodulator 620 or only the network interface 630.

The tuner 610 tunes to a Radio Frequency (RF) broadcast signalcorresponding to a channel selected by a user from among a plurality ofRF broadcast signals received through an antenna and downconverts thetuned RF broadcast signal into a digital Intermediate Frequency (IF)signal or an analog baseband video or audio signal.

More specifically, if the tuned RF broadcast signal is a digitalbroadcast signal, the tuner 610 downconverts the tuned RF broadcastsignal into a digital IF signal DIF. On the other hand, if the tuned RFbroadcast signal is an analog broadcast signal, the tuner 610downconverts the tuned RF broadcast signal into an analog baseband videoor audio signal CVBS/SIF. That is, the tuner 610 may be a hybrid tunercapable of processing not only digital broadcast signals but also analogbroadcast signals. The analog baseband video or audio signal CVBS/SIFmay be directly input to the controller 670.

The tuner 610 may be capable of receiving RF broadcast signals from anAdvanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) single-carrier system orfrom a Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) multi-carrier system.

The tuner 610 may sequentially tune to a number of RF broadcast signalscorresponding to all broadcast channels previously stored by a channelstorage function from a plurality of RF signals received through theantenna and may downconvert the tuned RF broadcast signals into IFsignals or baseband video or audio signals.

The demodulator 620 receives the digital IF signal DIF from the tuner610 and demodulates the digital IF signal DIF. For example, if thedigital IF signal DIF is an ATSC signal, the demodulator 620 may perform8-Vestigal SideBand (VSB) demodulation on the digital IF signal DIF. Thedemodulator 620 may also perform channel decoding.

For channel decoding, the demodulator 620 may include a Trellis decoder(not shown), a de-interleaver (not shown) and a Reed-Solomon decoder(not shown) so as to perform Trellis decoding, de-interleaving andReed-Solomon decoding.

For example, if the digital IF signal DIF is a DVB signal, thedemodulator 620 performs Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (COFDMA) demodulation upon the digital IF signal DIF. Thedemodulator 620 may also perform channel decoding. For channel decoding,the demodulator 620 may include a convolution decoder (not shown), ade-interleaves (not shown), and a Reed-Solomon decoder (not shown) so asto perform convolution decoding, de-interleaving, and Reed-Solomondecoding.

The demodulator 620 may perform demodulation and channel decoding on thedigital IF signal DIF, thereby obtaining a Transport Stream (TS). The TSmay be a signal in which a video signal, an audio signal and a datasignal are multiplexed. For example, the TS may be an MPEG-2 TS in whichan MPEG-2 video signal and a Dolby AC-3 audio signal are multiplexed. AnMPEG-2 TS may include a 4-byte header and a 184-byte payload. In orderto properly handle not only ATSC signals but also DVB signals, thedemodulator 620 may include an ATSC demodulator and a DVB demodulator.

The TS output from the demodulator 620 may be input to the controller670 and thus subjected to demultiplexing and A/V signal processing. Theprocessed video and audio signals are output to the display 680 and theaudio output unit 685, respectively.

The external device interface 635 may serve as an interface between anexternal device and the image display device 600. For interfacing, theexternal device interface 635 may include an A/V Input/Output (I/O) unit(not shown) and/or a wireless communication module (not shown).

The external device interface 635 may be connected to an external devicesuch as a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player, a Blu-ray player, a gameconsole, a camera, a camcorder, or a computer (e.g., a laptop computer),wirelessly or by wire. Then, the external device interface 635externally receives video, audio, and/or data signals from the externaldevice and transmits the received input signals to the controller 670.In addition, the external device interface 635 may output video, audio,and data signals processed by the controller 670 to the external device.In order to receive or transmit audio, video and data signals from or tothe external device, the external device interface 635 includes the A/VI/O unit (not shown) and/or the wireless communication module (notshown).

The A/V I/O unit may include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, aComposite Video Banking Sync (CVBS) port, a Component port, aSuper-video (S-video) (analog) port, a Digital Visual Interface (DVI)port, a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) port, aRed-Green-Blue (RGB) port, and a D-sub port, in order to input the videoand audio signals of the external device to the image display device600.

The wireless communication module may perform short-range wirelesscommunication with other electronic devices. For short-range wirelesscommunication, the wireless communication module may use Bluetooth,Radio-Frequency IDentification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA),Ultra WideBand (UWB), ZigBee, and Digital Living Network Affiance (DLNA)communication standards.

The external device interface 635 may be connected to various set-topboxes through at least one of the above-described ports and may thusperform an I/O operation with the various set-top boxes.

The external device interface 635 may receive applications or anapplication list from an adjacent external device and provide theapplications or the application list to the controller 670 or the memory640.

The network interface 630 serves as an interface between the imagedisplay device 600 and a wired/wireless network such as the Internet.The network interface 630 may include an Ethernet port for connection toa wired network. For connection to wireless networks, the networkinterface 630 may use Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) (i.e., Wi-Fi),Wireless Broadband (WiBro), World Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMax), and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA).

The network interface 630 may transmit data to or receive data fromanother user or electronic device over a connected network or anothernetwork linked to the connected network. Especially, the networkinterface 630 may transmit data stored in the image display device 600to a user or electronic device selected from among users or electronicdevices pre-registered with the image display device 600.

The network interface 630 may access a specific Web page over aconnected network or another network linked to the connected network.That is, the network interface 630 may access a specific Web page over anetwork and transmit or receive data to or from a server. Additionally,the network interface 630 may receive content or data from a CP or anNP. Specifically, the network interface 630 may receive content such asmovies, advertisements, games, VoD, and broadcast signals, andinformation related to the content from a CP or an NP. Also, the networkinterface 630 may receive update information about firmware from the NPand update the firmware. The network interface 630 may transmit dataover the Internet or to the CP or the NP.

The network interface 630 may selectively receive a desired applicationamong open applications over a network. In one embodiment, when a gameapplication is executed in the image display device, the networkinterface 630 may transmit data to or receive data from a user terminalconnected to the image display device through a network. In addition,the network interface 630 may transmit specific data to or receivespecific data from a server that records game scores.

The memory 640 may store various programs necessary for the controller670 to process and control signals, and may also store processed video,audio and data signals. The memory 640 may temporarily store a video,audio and/or data signal received from the external device interface 635or the network interface 630. The memory 640 may store information aboutbroadcast channels by the channel storage function.

Also, the memory 640 may store applications or a list of applicationsreceived from the external device interface 135 or the network interface630. The memory 640 may store a variety of platforms which will bedescribed later.

In one embodiment, when the image display device provides a gameapplication, the memory 640 may store user-specific information and gameplay information of a user terminal used as a game controller.

The memory 640 may include, for example, at least one of a flashmemory-type storage medium, a hard disk-type storage medium, amultimedia card micro-type storage medium, a card-type memory (e.g. aSecure Digital (SD) or eXtreme Digital (XD) memory), a Random AccessMemory (RAM), or a Read-Only Memory (ROM) such as an ElectricallyErasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM). The image displaydevice 600 may reproduce content stored in the memory 640 (e.g. video,still image, music, text, and/or application files) to the user.

While the memory 640 is shown in FIG. 6 as configured separately fromthe controller 670, to which the present invention is not limited, thememory 640 may be incorporated into the controller 670, for example.

The user input interface 650 transmits a signal received from the userto the controller 670 or transmits a signal received from the controller670 to the user. For example, the user input interface 650 may receivecontrol signals such as a power-on/off signal, a channel selectionsignal, and a screen setting signal from a remote controller 611 or maytransmit a control signal received from the controller 670 to the remotecontroller 611, according to various communication schemes, for example,RF communication and IR communication.

For example, the user input interface 650 may provide the controller 670with control signals received from local keys (not shown), such asinputs of a power key, a channel key, and a volume key, and settingvalues.

Also, the user input interface 650 may transmit a control signalreceived from a sensor unit (not shown) for sensing a user gesture tothe controller 670 or transmit a signal received from the controller 670to the sensor unit. The sensor unit may include a touch sensor, a voicesensor, a position sensor, a motion sensor, etc.

The controller 670 may demultiplex the TS received from the tuner 610,the demodulator 620, or the external device interface 635 into a numberof signals and process the demultiplexed signals into audio and videodata.

The video signal processed by the controller 670 may be displayed as animage on the display 680. The video signal processed by the controller670 may also be transmitted to an external output device through theexternal device interface 635.

The audio signal processed by the controller 670 may be audibly outputthrough audio output unit 685. Also, the audio signal processed bycontroller 670 may be transmitted to the external output device throughthe external device interface 635. While not shown in FIG. 6, thecontroller 670 may include a DEMUX and a video processor, which will bedescribed later with reference to FIG. 10.

In addition, the controller 670 may provide overall control to the imagedisplay device 600. For example, the controller 670 may control thetuner 610 to tune to an RF broadcast signal corresponding to auser-selected channel or a pre-stored channel.

The controller 670 may control the image display device 600 according toa user command received through the user input interface 650 oraccording to an internal program. Especially the controller 670 mayaccess a network and download an application or application listselected by the user to the image display device 600 over the network.

For example, the controller 670 controls the tuner 610 to receive asignal of a channel selected according to a specific channel selectioncommand received through the user input interface 650 and processes avideo, audio and/or data signal of the selected channel. The controller670 outputs the processed video or audio signal along with informationabout the user-selected channel to the display 680 or the audio outputunit 685.

As another example, the controller 670 outputs a video or audio signalreceived from an external device such as a camera or a camcorder throughthe external device interface 635 to the display 680 or the audio outputunit 685 according to an external device video playback command receivedthrough external device interface 650.

The controller 670 may control the display 680 to display images. Forinstance, the controller 670 may control the display 680 to display abroadcast image received from the tuner 610, an externally input imagereceived through the external device interface 635, an image receivedthrough the network interface 630, or an image stored in the memory 640.The image displayed on the display 680 may be a Two-Dimensional (2D) orThree-Dimensional (3D) still image or moving picture.

The controller 670 may control content playback. The content may includeany content stored in the image display device 600, received broadcastcontent, and externally input content. The content includes at least oneof a broadcast image, an externally input image, an audio file, a stillimage, a Web page, or a text file.

Upon receipt of a return-to-home screen input, the controller 670 maycontrol display of the home screen on the display 680. The home screenmay include a plurality of card objects classified according to contentsources. The card objects may include at least one of a card objectrepresenting a thumbnail list of broadcast channels, a card objectrepresenting a broadcast program guide, a card object representing aprogram reservation list or a program recording list, or a card objectrepresenting a media list of a device connected to the image displaydevice.

The card objects may further include at least one of a card objectrepresenting a list of connected external devices or a card objectrepresenting a call-associated list.

The home screen may further include an application menu including atleast one application that can be executed. Accordingly, the gameapplication according to the one embodiment may be designed in a formatselectable through the application menu of the above-described homescreen. Further, in the present invention, user convenience may beimproved by adding or deleting the game application to or from theapplication menu according to user selection.

Upon receipt of a card object move input, the controller 670 may controlmovement of a card object corresponding to the card object move input onthe display 680, or if the card object is not displayed on the display680, the controller 670 may control display of the card object on thedisplay 680.

When a card object is selected from among the card objects on the homescreen, the controller 670 may control display of an image correspondingto the selected card object on the display 680.

The controller 670 may control display of an input broadcast image andan object representing information about the broadcast image in a cardobject representing broadcast images. The size of the broadcast imagemay be set to a fixed size.

The controller 670 may control display of a set-up object for at leastone of image setting, audio setting, screen setting, reservationsetting, setting of a pointer of the remote controller, or networksetting on the home screen.

The controller 670 may control display of a log-in object, a helpobject, or an exit object on a part of the home screen. Also, controller670 may control display of an object representing the total number ofavailable card objects or the number of card objects displayed ondisplay 680 among all card objects, on a part of the home screen. If oneof the card objects displayed on the display 680 is selected, controller670 may fullscreen the selected card object to cover the entirety of thedisplay 680.

Upon receipt of an incoming call at a connected external device or theimage display device 600, the controller 670 may control focusing-on orshift of a call-related card object among the plurality of card objects.

If an application view menu item is selected, the controller 670 maycontrol display of applications or a list of applications that arepresent in the image display device 600 or downloadable from an externalnetwork.

The controller 670 may control installation and execution of anapplication downloaded from the external network along with various UIs.

Also, the controller 670 may control display of an image related to theexecuted application on the display 680, upon user selection.

In one embodiment, when the image display device provides a gameapplication, the controller 670 may control assignment of player IDs tospecific user terminals, creation of game play information by executingthe game application, transmission of the game play informationcorresponding to the player IDS assigned to the user terminals throughthe network interface 630, and reception of the game play information atthe user terminals.

The controller 670 may control detection of user terminals connected tothe image display device over a network through the network interface630, display of a list of the detected user terminals on the display 680and reception of a selection signal indicating a user terminal selectedfor use as a user controller from among the detected user terminalsthrough the user input interface 650.

The controller 670 may control output of a game play screen of the gameapplication, inclusive of player information of each user terminal andgame play information, through the display 680.

The controller 670 may determine the specific signal received from auser terminal through the network interface 630 as game play informationand thus control the game play information to be reflected in the gameapplication in progress.

The controller 670 may control transmission of the game play informationof the game application to a specific server connected over a networkthrough the network interface 630.

In another embodiment, upon receipt of information about a change in thegame play information from a predetermined server through the networkinterface 630, the controller 670 may control output of a notificationmessage in a predetermined area of the display 680.

Although not shown, the image display device 600 may further include achannel browsing processor for generating thumbnail images correspondingto channel signals or externally input signals.

The channel browsing processor may receive the TS output from thedemodulator 620 or the TS output from the external device interface 635,extract images of the received TS and generate thumbnail images. Thethumbnail images may be directly output to the controller 670 or may beoutput after being encoded. Also, it is possible to encode the thumbnailimages into a stream and output the stream to the controller 670. Thecontroller 670 may display a thumbnail list including a plurality ofreceived thumbnail images on the display 680. The thumbnail images maybe updated sequentially or simultaneously in the thumbnail list.Therefore, the user can readily identify the content of broadcastprograms received through a plurality of channels.

The display 680 may convert a processed video signal, a processed datasignal, and an OSD signal received from the controller 670 or a videosignal and a data signal received from the external device interface 635into RGB signals, thereby generating driving signals. The display 680may be various types of displays such as a Plasma Display Panel (PDP), aLiquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED)display, a flexible display, and a 3D display. The display 680 may alsobe a touchscreen that can be used not only as an output device but alsoas an input device.

The audio output unit 685 may receive a processed audio signal (e.g., astereo signal, a 3.1-channel signal or a 5.1-channel signal) from thecontroller 670 and output the received audio signal as sound. The audiooutput unit 685 may employ various speaker configurations.

To sense a user gesture, the image display device 600 may furtherinclude the sensor unit (not shown) that has at least one of a touchsensor, a voice sensor, a position sensor, and a motion sensor, asstated before. A signal sensed by the sensor unit may be output to thecontroller 670 through the user input interface 650.

The image display device 600 may further include the camera unit (notshown) for capturing images of a user. Image information captured by thecamera unit may be input to the controller 670. The controller 670 maysense a user gesture from an image captured by the camera unit or asignal sensed by the sensor unit, or by combining the captured image andthe sensed signal.

The power supply 690 supplies power to the image display device 600.Particularly, the power supply 690 may supply power to the controller670 which may be implemented as a System On Chip (SOC), the display 680for displaying an image, and the audio output unit 685 for audio output.

For supplying power, the power supply 690 may include a converter (notshown) for converting Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current (DC).If the display 680 is configured with, for example, a liquid crystalpanel having a plurality of backlight lamps, the power supply 690 mayfurther include an inverter (not shown) capable of performing PulseWidth Modulation (PWM) for luminance change or dimming driving.

The remote controller 611 transmits a user input to the user inputinterface 650. For transmission of user input, the remote controller 611may use various communication techniques such as Bluetooth, RFcommunication, IR communication, Ultra Wideband (UWB) and ZigBee.

In addition, the remote controller 611 may receive a video signal, anaudio signal or a data signal from the user input interface 650 andoutput the received signals visually, audibly or as vibrations.

The above-described image display device 600 may be a fixed digitalbroadcast receiver capable of receiving at least one of ATSC (8-VSB)broadcast programs, DVB-T (COFDM) broadcast programs, and ISDB-T(BST-OFDM) broadcast programs.

The block diagram of the image display device 600 illustrated in FIG. 6is purely exemplary. Depending upon the specifications of the imagedisplay device 600 in actual implementation, the components of the imagedisplay device 600 may be combined or omitted or new components may beadded. That is, two or more components may be incorporated into onecomponent or one component may be configured as separate components. Inaddition, the function of each block is described for the purpose ofdescribing the one embodiment and thus specific operations or devicesshould not be construed as limiting the scope and spirit of the presentinvention.

Unlike the configuration illustrated in FIG. 6, the image display device600 may be configured so as to receive and play back video contentthrough the network interface 630 or the external device interface 635,without the tuner 600 and the demodulator 620 shown in FIG. 6.

The game application according to the one embodiment is received throughthe network interface 630 of the image display device 600 shown in FIG.6. Further, the received game application is stored in the memory 640.

The network interface 630 performs communication with a mobile deviceexecuting the above-described game application.

The image display device 600 is an exemplary image signal processingdevice that processes a stored image or an input image. Other examplesof the image signal processing device include a set-top box without thedisplay 680 and the audio output unit 685, a DVD player, a Blu-rayplayer, a game console, and a computer. The set-top box will bedescribed later with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams illustrating any one of the image displaydevices provided separately from a set-top box according to one or moreembodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7, a set-top box 750 and a display device 701 maytransmit or receive data wirelessly or by wire. The set-top box 750 mayinclude a network interface 755, a memory 758, a signal processor 760, auser input interface 763, and an external device interface 765.

The network interface 755 serves as an interface between the set-top box750 and a wired/wireless network such as the Internet. The networkinterface 755 may transmit data to or receive data from another user oranother electronic device over a connected network or over anothernetwork linked to the connected network.

The memory 758 may store programs necessary for the signal processor 760to process and control signals and temporarily store a video, audioand/or data signal received from the external device interface 765 orthe network interface 755. The memory 758 may also store platforms shownin FIGS. 11 and 12, as described later.

The signal processor 760 processes an input signal. For example, thesignal processor 760 may demultiplex or decode an input video or audiosignal. For signal processing, the signal processor 760 may include avideo decoder or an audio decoder. The processed video or audio signalmay be transmitted to the display device 701 through the external deviceinterface 265.

The user input interface 763 transmits a signal received from the userto the signal processor 760 or a signal received from the signalprocessor 760 to the user. For example, the user input interface 763 mayreceive various control signals such as a power on/off signal, anoperation input signal, and a setting input signal through a local key(not shown) or the remote controller and output the control signals tothe signal processor 760.

The external device interface 765 serves as an interface between theset-top box 750 and an external device that is connected wirelessly orby wire, particularly the display device 701, for data transmission orreception. The external device interface 765 may also interface with anexternal device such as a game console, a camera, a camcorder, and acomputer (e.g. a laptop computer), for data transmission or reception.

The set-top box 750 may further include a media input unit for mediaplayback. The media input unit may be a Blu-ray input unit (not shown),for example. That is, the set-top box 750 may include a Blu-ray player.After signal processing such as demultiplexing or decoding in the signalprocessor 760, a media signal from a Blu-ray disc may be transmitted tothe display device 701 through the external device interface 765 so asto be displayed on the display device 701.

The display device 701 may include a tuner 770, an external deviceinterface 773, a demodulator 775, a memory 778, a controller 780, a userinput interface 783, a display 790, and an audio output unit 795.

The tuner 770, the demodulator 775, the memory 778, the controller 780,the user input interface 783, the display 790 and the audio output unit795 are identical respectively to the tuner 610, the demodulator 620,the memory 640, the controller 670, the user input interface 650, thedisplay 680, and the audio output unit 685 illustrated in FIG. 6 andthus a description thereof is not provided herein.

The external device interface 773 serves as an interface between thedisplay device 701 and a wireless or wired external device, particularlythe set-top box 750, for data transmission or reception. Hence, a videosignal or an audio signal received through the set-top box 750 is outputthrough the display 790 or through the audio output unit 795 undercontrol of the controller 780.

Referring to FIG. 8, the configuration of the set-top box 850 and thedisplay device 801 shown in FIG. 8 is similar to that of the set-top box750 and the display device 701 shown in FIG. 7, except that the tuner870 and the demodulator 875 reside in the set-top box 850, not in thedisplay device 801. Thus the following description will focus upon suchdifference.

The signal processor 860 may process a broadcast signal received throughthe tuner 870 and the demodulator 875. The user input interface 863 mayreceive a channel selection input, a channel store input, etc.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation for communicating with oneor more third devices. The operation may be performed in an imagedisplay device, including but not limited to any of the embodiments ofthe image display devices described herein.

As shown in FIG. 9, an image display device 900 may communicate with abroadcast station 910, a network server 920, or an external device 930.The image display device 900 may receive a broadcast signal including avideo signal from the broadcast station 910. The image display device900 may process the audio and video signals of the broadcast signal orthe data signal of the broadcast signal, suitably for output from theimage display device 900. The image display device 900 may output videoor audio based on the processed video or audio signal.

Meanwhile, the image display device 900 may communicate with the networkserver 920. The network server 920 is capable of transmitting signals toand receiving signals from the image display device 900 over a network.

For example, the network server 920 may be a portable terminal that canbe connected to the image display device 900 through a wired or wirelessbase station. In addition, the network server 920 may provide content tothe image display device 900 over the Internet. A CP may provide contentto the image display device 900 through the network server.

The image display device 900 may communicate with the external device930. The external device 930 can transmit and receive signals directlyto and from the image display device 900 wirelessly or by wire. Forinstance, the external device 930 may be a media storage or player. Thatis, the external device 930 may be any of a camera, a DVD player, aBlu-ray player, a PC, etc.

The broadcast station 910, the network server 920 or the external device930 may transmit a signal including a video signal to the image displaydevice 900. The image display device 900 may display an image based onthe video signal included in the received signal. Also, the imagedisplay device 900 may transmit a signal transmitted from the networkserver 920 to the broadcast station 910 to the external device 930 andmay transmit a signal transmitted from the external device 930 to theimage display device 900 to the broadcast station 910 or the networkserver 920. That is, the image display device 900 may transmit contentincluded in signals received from the broadcast station 910, the networkserver 920, and the external device 930 or may immediately play back thecontent.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one type of controller used in FIG. 6.This controller 670 may include a DEMUX 1010, a video processor 1020, anOSD generator 1040, a mixer 1050, a Frame Rate Converter (FRC) 1055, anda formatter 1060 according to one embodiment. The controller 670 mayfurther include an audio processor (not shown) and a data processor (notshown).

The DEMUX 1010 demultiplexes an input stream. For example, the DEMUX1010 may demultiplex an MPEG-2 TS into a video signal, an audio signal,and a data signal. The stream signal input to the DEMUX 1010 may bereceived from the tuner 610, the demodulator 620 or the external deviceinterface 635.

The video processor 1020 may process the demultiplexed video signal. Forvideo signal processing, the video processor 1020 may include a videodecoder 1025 and a scaler 1035.

The video decoder 1025 decodes the demultiplexed video signal and thescaler 1035 scales the decoded video signal so that the video signal canbe displayed on the display 680. The video decoder 1025 may be providedwith decoders that operate based on various standards.

If the demultiplexed video signal is, for example, an MPEG-2 encodedvideo signal, the video signal may be decoded by an MPEG-2 decoder. Onthe other hand, if the video signal is an H.264-encoded DMB orDVB-handheld (DVB-H) signal, the video signal may be decoded by an H.264decoder. The video signal decoded by the video processor 1020 isprovided to the mixer 1050.

The OSD generator 1040 generates an OSD signal autonomously or accordingto user input. For example, the OSD generator 1040 may generate signalsby which a variety of information is displayed as graphics or text onthe display 680, based on control signals received from the user inputinterface 650. The generated OSD signal may include various data such asa UI screen, a variety of menu screens, widgets, icons, etc. of theimage display device 600

For example, the OSD generator 1040 may generate a signal by whichsubtitles are displayed for a broadcast image or Electronic ProgramGuide (EPG)-based broadcasting information.

The mixer 1050 may mix the decoded video signal processed by the imageprocessor with the OSD signal generated by the OSD generator 1040 andoutput the mixed signal to the formatter 1060. As the decoded broadcastvideo signal or the externally input signal is mixed with the OSDsignal, an OSD may be overlaid on the broadcast image or the externallyinput image.

The FRC 1055 may change the frame rate of an input image signal. Forexample, a frame rate of 60 Hz is converted into a frame rate of 120 or240 Hz. When the frame rate is to be changed from 60 Hz to 120 Hz, afirst frame is inserted between the first frame and a second frame, or apredicted third frame is inserted between the first and second frames.If the frame rate is to be changed from 60 Hz to 240 Hz, three identicalframes or three predicted frames are inserted between the first andsecond frames. It is also possible to maintain the frame rate of theinput image without frame rate conversion.

The formatter 1060 changes the format of the signal received from theFRC 355 to suit the display 680. For example, the formatter 1060 mayconvert a received signal into an RGB data signal. The RGB signal may beoutput in the form of a Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) ormini-LVDS.

The audio processor (not shown) of the controller 670 may process thedemultiplexed audio signal. For audio signal processing, the audioprocessor (not shown) may have a plurality of decoders.

If the demultiplexed audio signal is a coded audio signal, the audioprocessor (not shown) of the controller 670 may decode the audio signal.For example, the demultiplexed audio signal may be decoded by an MPEG-2decoder, an MPEG-4 decoder, an Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) decoder, oran AC-3 decoder. The audio processor (not shown) of the controller 670may also adjust the bass, treble or volume of the audio signal.

The data processor (not shown) of the controller 670 may process thedemultiplexed data signal. For example, if the demultiplexed data signalis an encoded data signal such as an Electronic Program Guide (EPG)which includes broadcast information specifying the start time, endtime, etc. of scheduled broadcast programs of each channel, thecontroller 670 may decode the data signal. Examples of an EPG includeATSC-Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) information andDVB-Service Information (SI).

ATSC-PSIP information or DVB-SI may be included in the header of theabove-described TS, i.e., a 4-byte header of an MPEG-2 TS.

The block diagram of the controller 670 shown in FIG. 10 is oneembodiment. Depending upon the specifications of the controller 670, thecomponents of the controller 670 may be combined, or omitted. Or newcomponents may be added to the controller 670.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing one example of one type of platformarchitecture that may be used for any of the types of image displaydevices described herein, and FIG. 12 shows another example of aplatform architecture. Either or each type of platform may have OS-basedsoftware to implement the above-described various operations.

Referring to FIG. 11, a platform for the image display device is of aseparate type. The platform may be designed separately as a legacysystem platform 1100 and a smart system platform 1105. An OS kernel 1110may be shared between the legacy system platform 1100 and the smartsystem platform 405.

The legacy system platform 1100 may include a stack of a driver 1120,middleware 1130, and an application layer 1150 on the OS kernel 1110. Onthe other hand, the smart system platform 1105 may include a stack of alibrary 1135, a framework 1140, and an application layer 1155 on the OSkernel 1110.

The OS kernel 1110 is the core of an operating system. When the imagedisplay device is driven, the OS kernel 1110 may be responsible foroperation of at least one of control of hardware drivers, securityprotection for hardware and processors in the image display device,efficient management of system resources, memory management, hardwareinterfacing by hardware abstraction, multi-processing, or schedulingassociated with multi-processing. Meanwhile, the OS kernel 1110 mayfurther perform power management.

The hardware drivers of the OS kernel 1110 may include, for example, atleast one of a display driver, a Wi-Fi driver, a Bluetooth driver, a USBdriver, an audio driver, a power manager, a binder driver, or a memorydriver.

Alternatively or additionally, the hardware drivers of the OS kernel1110 may be drivers for hardware devices within the OS kernel 1110. Thehardware drivers may include a character device driver, a block devicedriver, and a network device driver. The block device driver may requirea buffer for buffering data on a block basis, because data istransmitted on a block basis. The character device driver may not need abuffer since data is transmitted on a basic data unit basis, that is, ona character basis.

The OS kernel 1110 may be implemented based on any of various OSs suchas Unix (Linux), Windows, etc. The OS kernel 1110 may be ageneral-purpose open-source kernel which can be implemented in otherelectronic devices.

The driver 1120 is interposed between the OS kernel 1110 and themiddleware 1130. Along with the middleware 1130, the driver 1120 drivesdevices for operation of the application layer 1150. For example, thedriver 1120 may include a driver(s) for a microcomputer, a displaymodule, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), an FRC, a General-PurposeInput/Output (GPIO) pin, a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI),a System Decoder (SDEC) or DEMUX, a Video Decoder (VDEC), an AudioDecoder (ADEC), a Personal Video Recorder (PVR), and/or anInter-Integrated Circuit (I2C). These drivers operate in conjunctionwith the hardware drivers of the OS kernel 1110.

In addition, the driver 1120 may include a driver for the remotecontroller, especially a pointing device to be described below. Theremote controller driver may reside in the OS kernel 1110 or themiddleware 1130, instead of the driver 1120.

The middleware 1130 resides between the OS kernel 1110 and theapplication layer 1150. The middleware 1130 may mediate betweendifferent hardware devices or different software programs, for datatransmission and reception between the hardware devices or the softwareprograms. Therefore, the middleware 1130 can provide standardinterfaces, support various environments, and enable interaction betweentasks conforming to heterogeneous communication protocols.

Examples of the middleware 1130 in the legacy system platform 1100 mayinclude Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Experts Group(MHEG) and Advanced Common Application Platform (ACAP) as databroadcasting-related middleware, PSIP or SI middleware as broadcastinginformation-related middleware, and DLNA middleware as peripheral devicecommunication-related middleware.

The application layer 1150 that runs atop the middleware 1130 in thelegacy system platform 1100 may include, for example, UI applicationsassociated with various menus in the image display device. Theapplication layer 1150 on top of the middleware 1130 may allow editingand updating over a network by user selection. Through the applicationlayer 1150, the user may navigate a desired menu by manipulating theremote controller while viewing a broadcast program.

The application layer 1150 in the legacy system platform 1100 mayfurther include at least one of a TV guide application, a Bluetoothapplication, a reservation application, a Digital Video Recorder (DVR)application, and a hotkey application.

In the smart system platform 1105, the library 1135 is positionedbetween the OS kernel 1110 and the framework 1140, forming the basis ofthe framework 1140. For example, the library 1135 may include SecureSocket Layer (SSL) (a security-related library), WebKit (a Webengine-related library), c library (libc), and Media Framework (amedia-related library) specifying, for example, a video format and anaudio format. The library 1135 may be written in C or C++. Also, thelibrary 1135 may be exposed to a developer through the framework 1140.

The library 1135 may include a runtime 1137 with a core Java library anda Virtual Machine (VM). The runtime 1137 and the library 1135 form thebasis of the framework 1140.

The VM may be a virtual machine that enables concurrent execution of aplurality of instances, that is, multi-tasking. For each application ofthe application layer 1155, a VM may be allocated and executed. Forscheduling or interconnection between the plurality of instances, thebinder driver (not shown) of the OS kernel 1110 may operate. The binderdriver and the runtime 1137 may connect Java applications to C-basedlibraries.

The library 1135 and the runtime 1137 may correspond to the middleware1130 of the legacy system platform.

In the smart system platform 1105, the framework 1140 includes programson which applications of the application layer 1155 are based. Theframework 1140 is compatible with any application and may allowcomponent reuse, movement or exchange. The framework 1140 may includesupporting programs and programs for interconnecting different softwarecomponents. For example, the framework 1140 may include an activitymanager related to activities of applications, a notification manager,and a CP for abstracting common information between applications. Thisframework 1140 may be written in Java.

The application layer 1155 on top of the framework 1140 includes avariety of programs that can be executed and displayed in the imagedisplay device. The application layer 1155 may include, for example, acore application that is a suite providing at least one of e-mail, ShortMessage Service (SMS), calendar, map, or browser functions. Theapplication layer 1155 may be written in Java.

In the application layer 1155, applications may be categorized intouser-undeletable applications 1165 stored in the image display device oruser-deletable applications 1175 that are downloaded from an externaldevice or a network and stored in the image display device.

Using the applications of the application layer 1155, a variety offunctions such as an Internet telephony service, VoD service, Web albumservice, Social Networking Service (SNS), Location-Based Service (LBS),map service, Web browsing service, and application search service may beperformed through network access. In addition, other functions such asgaming and schedule management may be performed by the applications.

Referring to FIG. 12, a platform for any of the image display devicesaccording to the embodiments of the present invention is of anintegrated type. The integrated-type platform may include an OS kernel1210, a driver 1220, middleware 1230, a framework 1240, and anapplication layer 1250.

The integrated-type platform shown in FIG. 11 is different from theseparate-type platform shown in FIG. 11 in that the library 1135 shownin FIG. 11 is deleted and the application layer 1250 is included as anintegrated layer. The driver 1220 and the framework 1240 correspond tothe driver 1120 and the framework 1140 of FIG. 11, respectively.

The library 1135 of FIG. 11 may be incorporated into the middleware 1230of FIG. 12. That is, the middleware 1230 may include both the legacysystem middleware and the image display system middleware. As describedbefore, the legacy system middleware includes MHEG or ACAP as databroadcasting-related middleware, PSIP or SI middleware as broadcastinginformation-related middleware, and DLNA middleware as peripheral devicecommunication-related middleware, and the image display systemmiddleware includes SSL as a security-related library, WebKit as a Webengine-related library, libc, and Media Framework as a media-relatedlibrary. The middleware 1230 may further include the above-describedruntime.

The application layer 1250 may include a menu-related application, a TVguide application, a reservation application, etc. as legacy systemapplications, and e-mail, SMS, a calendar, a map, and a browser as imagedisplay system applications.

In the application layer 1250, applications may be categorized intouser-undeletable applications 1265 that are stored in the image displaydevice and user-installable or user-deletable applications 1275 that aredownloaded from an external device or a network and stored in the imagedisplay device.

The platforms shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 may be general-purpose ones thatcan be implemented in many other electronic devices as well as in imagedisplay devices. The platforms of FIGS. 11 and 12 may be stored orloaded in the memory 640, the controller 670, or any other processor(not shown) or may be stored or load in the SI & metadata DB 711, the UImanager 714 or the service manager 713 shown in FIG. 5. To executeapplications, an additional application processor (not shown) may befurther provided.

The game application according to one embodiment is located in theapplication layer shown in FIG. 11 or 12. In particular, if the gameapplication is installed in a process of producing a display device(e.g., TV), the display device is designed such that a user of thedisplay device may not arbitrarily access or delete the gameapplication.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method for controlling any of the types of imagedisplay devices described herein using a remote controller. FIG. 13( a)illustrates a pointer 1305 representing movement of the remotecontroller 1300 displayed on the display 1380.

The user may move or rotate the remote controller 1300 up and down, sideto side (FIG. 13( b)), and back and forth (FIG. 13( c)). The pointer1305 displayed on the display 1380 of the image display device movesaccording to the movement of the remote controller 1300. Since thepointer 1305 moves in accordance with the movement of the remotecontroller 1300 in a 3D space as shown in FIG. 13, the remote controller1300 may be referred to as a pointing device.

Referring to FIG. 13( b), if the user moves the remote controller 1300to the left, the pointer 1305 moves to the left on the display 1380. Asensor of the remote controller 1300 detects movement of the remotecontroller 1300 and transmits motion information of the remotecontroller 1300 to the image display device. Then, the image displaydevice calculates the coordinates of the pointer 1305 from the motioninformation of the remote controller 1300. The image display device thendisplays the pointer 1305 at the calculated coordinates.

Referring to FIG. 13( c), while pressing a predetermined button of theremote controller 1300, the user moves the remote controller 1300 awayfrom the display 1380. Then, a selected area corresponding to thepointer 1305 may be zoomed in on and enlarged on the display 1380. Onthe contrary, if the user moves the remote controller 1300 toward thedisplay 180, the selected area corresponding to the pointer 1305 iszoomed out and thus contracted on the display 1380. On the contrary,when the remote controller 1300 moves away from the display 1380, theselected area may be zoomed out and when the remote controller 1300approaches the display 180, the selected area may be zoomed in.

With the predetermined button of the remote controller 1300 pressed, theup, down, left and right movements of the remote controller 1300 may beignored. That is, when the remote controller 1300 moves away from orapproaches the display 1380, only the back and forth movements of theremote controller 1300 are sensed, while the up, down, left and rightmovements of the remote controller 1300 are ignored. Unless thepredetermined button is pressed in the remote controller 1300, thepointer 1305 moves in accordance with the up, down, left or rightmovement of the remote controller 1300.

The movement speed and direction of the pointer 1305 may correspond tothe movement speed and direction of the remote controller 1300.

The pointer may be an object displayed on the display 1380 incorrespondence with the movement of the remote controller 1300.Therefore, the pointer 1305 may have various shapes other than the arrowillustrated in FIG. 13. For example, the pointer 1305 may be a dot, acursor, a prompt, a thick outline, etc. The pointer 1305 may bedisplayed across a plurality of points, such as a line and a surface, aswell as at a single point on horizontal and vertical axes.

FIG. 14 is a detailed block diagram of the remote controller for use incontrolling any of the types of image display devices described herein.Referring to FIG. 14, the remote controller 1400 may include a wirelesscommunication module 1425, a user input unit 1435, a sensor unit 1440,an output unit 1450, a power supply 1460, a memory 1470, and acontroller 1480.

The wireless communication module 1425 transmits signals to and/orreceives signals from the image display device, e.g., image displaydevice 1401.

The remote controller 1400 may include an RF module 1421 fortransmitting RF signals to and/or receiving RF signals from the imagedisplay device 1401 according to an RF communication standard. Theremote controller 1400 may also include an IR module 1423 fortransmitting IR signals to and/or receiving IR signals from the imagedisplay device 1401 according to an IR communication standard.

In one embodiment, remote controller 1400 transmits motion informationrepresenting movement of the remote controller 1400 to the image displaydevice 1401 through the RF module 221. The remote controller 1400 mayalso receive signals from the image display device 1401 through the RFmodule 1421. As needed, the remote controller 1400 may transmit commandssuch as a power on/off command, a channel switch command, or a volumechange command to the image display device 1401 through the IR module1423.

The user input unit 1435 may include a keypad, a plurality of buttons, atouchpad and/or a touch screen. The user may enter commands associatedwith the image display device 1401 to the remote controller 1400 bymanipulating the user input unit 1435. If the user input unit 1435includes a plurality of hard buttons, the user may input variouscommands associated with the image display device 1401 to the remotecontroller 1400 by pressing the hard buttons.

Alternatively or additionally, if the user input unit 1435 includes atouchscreen displaying a plurality of soft keys, the user may inputvarious commands associated with the image display device 1401 to theremote controller 1400 by touching the soft keys. The user input unit1435 may also include various input tools other than those set forthherein, such as a scroll key and/or a jog wheel, which should not beconstrued as limiting the present invention.

The sensor unit 1440 may include a gyro sensor 241 and/or anacceleration sensor 1443.

The gyro sensor 1441 may sense movement of the remote controller 1400.

For example, the gyro sensor 1441 may sense movement of the remotecontroller 1400 in X, Y, and Z-axis directions. The acceleration sensor1443 may sense the speed of the remote controller 1400. The sensor unit1440 may further include a distance sensor for sensing the distancebetween the remote controller 1400 and the display device 1401.

The output unit 1450 may output a video and/or audio signalcorresponding to manipulation of the user input unit 1435 orcorresponding to a signal received from the image display device 1401.The user may easily identify whether the user input unit 1435 has beenmanipulated or whether the image display device 1401 has beencontrolled, based on the video and/or audio signal output by the outputunit 1450.

The output unit 1450 may include a Light Emitting Diode (LED) module1451 which is turned on or off whenever the user input unit 1435 ismanipulated or whenever a signal is received from or transmitted to theimage display device 1401 through the wireless communication module1425, a vibration module 1453 which generates vibrations, an audiooutput module 1455 which outputs audio data, and/or a display module1457 which outputs video data.

The power supply 1460 supplies power to the remote controller 1400. Ifthe remote controller 1400 remains stationary for a predetermined timeor longer, the power supply 1460 may, for example, reduce or shut offsupply of power to the spatial remote controller 1400 in order to savepower. The power supply 1460 may resume power supply if a predeterminedkey of the remote controller 1400 is manipulated.

The memory 1470 may store various types of programs and application datanecessary to control or drive the remote controller 1400. The remotecontroller 1400 may wirelessly transmit signals to and/or receivesignals from the image display device 1401 over a predeterminedfrequency band with the aid of the RF module 1421. The controller 1480of the remote controller 1400 may store information regarding thefrequency band used for the remote controller 1400 to wirelesslytransmit signals to and/or wirelessly receive signals from the pairedimage display device 1401 in the memory 1470, for later use.

The controller 1480 provides overall control to the remote controller1400. The controller 1480 may transmit a signal corresponding to a keymanipulation detected from the user input unit 1435 or a signalcorresponding to motion of the remote controller 1400, as sensed by thesensor unit 1440, to the image display device 1401.

In one embodiment, the remote controller 1400 may correspond to a userterminal necessary to execute a game application. Accordingly, inassociation with gaming by the game application of the presentinvention, a signal input through the user input unit 1435 of the remotecontroller 1400 is analyzed by the controller 1480 and is transmitted tothe image display device through the wireless communication module 1425,thereby being applied to the played game. That is, the game may beplayed by controlling a card or a pointer displayed on the image displaydevice.

In one embodiment, the remote controller may determine a distancebetween the image display device and the remote controller using thewireless communication module 1425 or the distance sensor (not shown).If the remote controller moves away from the image display device, agame main screen displayed on the image display device is enlarged and,if the remote controller approaches the image display device, the gamemain screen is reduced. Enlargement and reduction may be inverselycontrolled according to user setting.

In another embodiment, enlargement and reduction may be performed onlywhen the distance between the remote controller and the image displayapparatus is changed in a state in which a predetermined button of theremote controller 1400 is pressed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a UI that may be usedfor any of the types of image display devices described herein, FIG. 16is a diagram showing a second embodiment of such a UI, FIG. 17 is adiagram showing a third embodiment of such a UI, and FIG. 18 is adiagram showing a fourth embodiment of such a UI.

Referring to FIG. 15, an application list received over a network isdisplayed on the display 1580. A user may directly access a CP or an NP,search for various applications, and download the applications from theCP or the NP.

Specifically, FIG. 15( a) illustrates an application list 1510 availablein a connected server, displayed on the display 180. The applicationlist 1510 may include an icon representing each application and a briefdescription of the application. Because one or more of the image displaydevices described herein are capable of full browsing, it may enlargethe icons or descriptions of applications received from the connectedserver on the display 1580. Accordingly, the user can readily identifyapplications.

FIG. 15( b) illustrates selection of one application 1520 from theapplication list 1510 using the pointer 1505 of the remote controller1510. Thus, the selected application 1520 may be easily downloaded.

In one embodiment, a game application may be included in the applicationlist 1510. The game application included in the application list 1510may include a game application for performing a game play process andproviding a display screen to the image display device and a gameapplication for performing a user control function necessary to play agame. Accordingly, a user may select a game application from theapplication list 1510 and download the game application to the imagedisplay device or the user terminal.

FIG. 16 illustrates an application list of the image display device,displayed on the display 1680. Referring to FIG. 16( a), when the userselects an application list view menu by manipulating the remotecontroller 1610, a list of applications 1660 stored in the image displaydevice is displayed on the display 1680. While only icons representingthe applications are shown in FIG. 16, the application list 1660 mayfurther include brief descriptions of the applications, like theapplication list illustrated in FIG. 15. Therefore, the user can readilyidentify the applications.

FIG. 16( b) illustrates selection of one application 1670 from theapplication list 1660 using the pointer 1205 of the remote controller1610. Thus, the selected application 1670 may be easily executed.

While it is shown in FIG. 16 that the user selects a desired item bymoving the pointer 1605 using the remote controller 1610, theapplication may be selected in many other ways. For example, the usermay select a specific item using a cursor displayed on the screen bycombined input of an OK key and a direction key of a local key (notshown) or the remote controller 1610.

In another example, if the remote controller has a touch pad, thepointer 1605 moves on the display 1680 according to touch input of thetouch pad. Thus the user may select a specific item using thetouch-based pointer 1605.

FIG. 17 illustrates a Web page displayed on the display of the imagedisplay device. Specifically, FIG. 17( a) illustrates a Web page 1710with a search window 1720, displayed on the display. The user may entera character into the search window 1720 by use of character keys (notshown) of a keypad displayed on a screen, character keys (not shown) oflocal keys, or character keys (not shown) of the remote controller.

FIG. 17( b) illustrates a search result page 1730 having search resultsmatching a keyword entered into the search window, displayed on thedisplay. Since one or more of the image display devices described hereinare capable of fully browsing a Web page, the user can easily read theWeb page.

FIG. 18 illustrates another Web page displayed on the display.Specifically, FIG. 18( a) illustrates a mail service page 1810 includingan ID input window 1820 and a password input window 1825, displayed onthe display. The user may enter a specific numeral and/or text into theID input window 1820 and the password input window 1825 using a keypad(not shown) displayed on the mail service page, character keys (notshown) of local keys, or character keys (not shown) of the remotecontroller. Hence, the user can log in to a mail service.

FIG. 18( b) illustrates a mail page displayed on the display, after auser logs in to the mail service. For example, the mail page maycontains items “read mail”, “write mail”, “sent box”, “received box”,“recycle bin”, etc. In the “received box” item, mail may be ordered bysender or by title. One or more of the image display devices are capableof full browsing when displaying a mail service page. Therefore, theuser can conveniently use the mail service.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a Main Home screen of a network TVaccording to one embodiment. Other types of home screens may be used inother embodiments. However, hereinafter and for illustrative purposesonly, the Main Home screen of the network TV shown in FIG. 19 will bediscussed.

As shown in FIG. 19, a network TV 1900 according to one embodiment maydisplay a Live Broadcast Program area 1910, wherein a live program iscurrently being broadcasted, application-related Card areas 1920 and1930, and a Downloaded Applications area 1940 on the Main Home screen.The user may use an interface, such as a remote controller, so as toexecute a specific application among multiple applications that aredisplayed on the Downloaded Applications area 1940.

A number of downloadable applications may increase exponentiallydepending upon the performance of a memory, CPU, and so on, of thenetwork TV 1900. In this case, the user may experience some difficultyin intuitively selecting a specific application. Solution for resolvingthese and other problems will be described in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 20 shows an example of modules that may be used for or included ina network TV according to one embodiment. In other embodiments,different modules may be used. Also, those modules can be configured inthe form of hardware or software, or a combination of hardware andsoftware.

As shown in the example of FIG. 20, the network TV 2000 processingmultiple applications according to the one embodiment includes abroadcast network interface 2010, a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 2020, an audiodecoder 2030, a video decoder 2040, a speaker 2050, a display module2060, a controller 2070, an internet network interface 2080, a memory2090, an on-screen display (OSD) generator 2095, and a user interface2097.

More specifically, the broadcast network interface 2010 receivesbroadcast data including audio data and video data. And, thedemultiplexer (DEMUX) 2020 demultiplexes the audio data and video dataincluded in the received broadcast data. Thereafter, the audio decoder2030 decodes the demultiplexed audio data, and the speaker 2050 outputsthe decoded audio data. Furthermore, the video decoder 2040 decodes thedemultiplexed video data, and the display module 2060 outputs thedecoded video data.

Meanwhile, the internet network interface 2080 receives at least one ormore applications, and the memory 2090 downloaded the receivedapplications. Additionally, when a first input signal is receivedthrough the user interface 2097, the OSD generator 2095 generates atleast one or more display areas corresponding to an assigned number ofeach downloaded application.

Also, the display module 2060 displays image data indicating a specificapplication and a unique number corresponding to the specificapplication in each of the generated display areas. Furthermore, when asecond input signal, which is configured for selecting the uniquenumber, is received through the user interface 2097, the controller 2070controls the network TV so that the specific application can beexecuted. The user interface 2097 of the network TV 2000 may be equippedwith number key buttons.

Alternatively, according to another one embodiment, the user interface2097 of the network TV 2000 may be designed to receive a command signalrespective to a specific number key by communicating with a remotecontroller 2001. A method enabling the network TV 2000 shown in FIG. 20to intuitively display several tens of downloaded applications will bedescribed later on in more detail with reference to FIG. 21 to FIG. 24.

Meanwhile, according to one or another embodiment, when a third inputsignal configured to indicate a Favorite Applications group is receivedthrough the user interface 2097 or the remote controller 2001, among thedownloaded applications, the controller 2070 collects a plurality ofpredetermined favorite applications. Furthermore, the display module2060 may be designed to differentiate the collected favoriteapplications group from a non-favorite applications group and to displaythe collected favorite applications group accordingly.

The display method of the display module 2060 may be divided into twodifferent types. In the first display, the display module 2060consecutively displays display areas of the collected at least one ormore favorite applications and, then, consecutively displays displayareas of the at least one or more non-favorite applications.Alternatively, in the second display method, the display module 2060 maydisplay the display area of the collected favorite applications as aselectable area, and the display module 2060 may display the displayarea of the non-favorite applications as a non-selectable area. Thedisplay methods will be described later on in more detail with referenceto FIG. 25 to FIG. 27.

According to another one embodiment, when a fourth input signalconfigured to indicate an applications group for each category isreceived through the user interface 2097 or the remote controller 2001,the controller 2070 uses category information of the downloadedapplications so as to collect applications by each category. Thereafter,the display module 2060 consecutively displays display areas of at leastone or more applications belonging to a first category, and the displaymodule 2060 also consecutively displays display areas of at least one ormore applications belonging to a second category. The display methodwill be described later on in more detail with reference to FIG. 30.

FIG. 21 to FIG. 23 respectively illustrate process steps forcategorizing downloaded applications and displaying the categorizedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. And, FIG. 24illustrates a first display screen displaying downloaded applications inthe network TV according to the one embodiment. Hereinafter, a solutionfor generating a user interface (UI) for easily selecting applicationsdownloaded by the network TV will be described in detail with referenceto FIG. 21 to FIG. 23, and the displayed UI will be described withreference to FIG. 24.

As shown in FIG. 21, the network TV according to one embodiment maygenerates a display area 2110, which is split (or divided) in accordancewith the number of downloaded applications. Although it is assumed inthe example shown in FIG. 21 that the number of downloaded applicationsis equal to 35, the present invention will not be limited to the examplegiven herein. Meanwhile, the remote controller 2101 shown in FIG. 21 isdesigned to control the network TV 2100 and to transmit a commandrespective to a combination of multiple numbers. The display area 2110shown in FIG. 21 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.22 and FIG. 23.

An expanded view of the display area 2110 shown in FIG. 21 correspondsto a display area 2210 shown in FIG. 22. The network TV according to oneembodiment adjusts (or controls) a position of image data 2211 of anapplication that is to be displayed and a position of a unique number2212 respective to the corresponding application within the display area2210 corresponding to each application. As shown in FIG. 22, x and ycoordinates of the display area 2210 are used to calculate the positionsof the image data 2211 and the unique number 2212, so that the imagedata 2211 and the unique number 2212 to not overlap.

Alternatively, an expanded view of the display area 2110 shown in FIG.21 corresponds to a display area 2310 shown in FIG. 23. The network TVaccording to one embodiment adjusts (or controls) a position of imagedata 2311 of an application that is to be displayed and a position of aunique number 2312 respective to the corresponding application withinthe display area 2310 corresponding to each application. As shown inFIG. 23, the image data 2311 may overlap with the unique number 2312.However, in this case, in order to ensure the user's visibility, thenetwork TV may be designed so that one of the image data 2311 and theunique number 2312 can be semi-transparent.

When it is assumed that the network TV is designed as described in FIG.21 to FIG. 23, after pushing a shortcut key or Hot Key from the remotecontroller 2401, as shown in FIG. 24, network TV 2400 displays imagedata as well as a unique number of the corresponding application in thedivided (or split) display area 2410. Accordingly, by using aconventional remote controller, and by simply selecting a unique numbercorresponding to a specific application, the selected specificapplication may be immediately executed. Most particularly, if thenetwork TV is capable of downloading several tens or hundreds ofapplication, the UI shown in FIG. 24 may increase an application accessspeed to a higher rate.

FIG. 25 illustrates a second display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. Hereinafter,a first method for displaying favorite applications among the downloadedapplications in the network TV according to the one embodiment will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 25.

As shown in FIG. 25, while outputting a live broadcast program, when thenetwork TV 2500 according to the one embodiment receives a commandsignal respective to a favorite key, a pop-up window 2520 including adivided display area 2510 of favorite applications. Meanwhile, forexample, the favorite key may correspond to a shortcut key or a hot keyalready existing in the remote controller 2501. Alternatively, thefavorite key may also be designed as a separate key within the remotecontroller.

The divided display area of favorite applications within the pop-upwindow 2520 may be realized according to two embodiments of the presentinvention. According to a first embodiment, the divided display region2510 of a specific favorite application may be selected by usingdirection key buttons of the remote controller 2501. Alternatively, asshown in FIG. 25, according to a second one embodiment, the divideddisplay region 2510 of the favorite application may be designed toinclude a unique number and to be outputted.

Accordingly, by simply selecting a unique number respective to thedivided display area 2510 of the favorite application shown in FIG. 25,the user may easily access the wanted favorite application. Meanwhile,the unique number may correspond to a number predetermined by the user,or the unique number may correspond to a number automatically generatedbased upon a downloaded order of the downloaded application.

Additionally, the above-described first embodiment and the secondembodiment may be selected in accordance with the user's choice or maybe automatically selected. More specifically, the above-described firstembodiment may be more advantageous when used in a case where the numberof favorite applications is smaller. And, the second embodiment may bemore advantageous when used in a case where the number of favoriteapplications is larger.

For example, when a number of favorite applications downloaded in thenetwork TV is smaller than or equal to a number of direction key buttonsof the remote controller, the network TV is designed to display adivided display area according to the first embodiment. Alternatively,when a number of favorite applications downloaded in the network TV isgreater than or equal to a number of direction key buttons of the remotecontroller, the network TV is designed to display a divided display areaaccording to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, the favorite application may correspond to an applicationpersonally set-up by the user through a set-up menu, such as an Editmenu. Alternatively, the favorite application may also be automaticallydetermined based upon a number of accesses or an access time of aspecific application. Therefore, the user may immediately access afavorite application while viewing a live broadcast program.

FIG. 26 illustrates a third display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. Hereinafter,a second method for displaying favorite applications among thedownloaded applications in the network TV according to the oneembodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 26.

While a display area respective to the entire set of downloadedapplications is being displayed, as shown in FIG. 24, and when thenetwork TV 2600 receives a command signal respective to a Favorites key(herein, the Favorites key may be configured as a Shortcut key or a Hotkey) of the remote controller shown in FIG. 26, the network TV 2600outputs the display areas by differentiating a display area 2610corresponding to favorite applications from a display area 2620corresponding to non-favorite applications.

At this point, the user may be able to verify the favorite applicationsat one look, the favorite applications being more emphasized than thenon-favorite applications. Thereafter, the user may select a uniquenumber corresponding to a specific favorite application, thereby quicklyexecuting the specific favorite application. Also, as shown in FIG. 26,the display area 2610 corresponding to favorite applications may bedesigned to be in a selectable activated state. And, the display area2620 corresponding to non-favorite applications (i.e., other generalapplications) may be designed to be in a non-selectable inactivatedstate. If the display areas are designed as described above, only thefavorite applications may be selected by using the direction arrowbuttons provided in the remote controller 2601.

For example, referring to FIG. 26, the favorite applications areapplications #1, #7, #8, #11, #13, #17, #22, #25, #28, #31, and #34. Atthis point, a cursor is first placed over the display area ofapplication #1. Then, when the network TV 2600 received a command signalcorrespond to a rightward arrow button, the display area of application#7 is selected instead of the display area of application #2. This isbecause the display areas of applications #2 to #6, which correspond tothe non-favorite applications, are in a non-selectable inactive state.

FIG. 27 illustrates a fourth display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. Hereinafter,a third method for displaying favorite applications among the downloadedapplications in the network TV according to the one embodiment will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 27.

While a display area respective to the entire set of downloadedapplications is being displayed, as shown in FIG. 24, and when thenetwork TV 2700 receives a command signal respective to a Favorites key(herein, the Favorites key may be configured as a Shortcut key or a Hotkey) of the remote controller shown in FIG. 27, the network TV 2700outputs the display areas by differentiating a display area 2710corresponding to favorite applications from a display area 2720corresponding to non-favorite applications.

Unlike the method shown in FIG. 26, in the method of FIG. 27, thefavorite applications are grouped and positioned with higher priority(i.e., in the upper positions), and the remaining non-favoriteapplications are all positioned with lower priority (i.e., in the lowerpositions). For example, smaller numbers (i.e., higher ranking numbers)are respectively assigned as the unique number for each of the favoriteapplications, and larger numbers (i.e., lower ranking numbers) arerespectively assigned as the unique number for each of the non-favoriteapplications. However, in case the user personally sets up and edits theunique numbers, only the positions of the favorite applications areplaced to precede the non-favorite applications, regardless of the rankof the unique numbers.

FIG. 28 illustrates a fifth display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. Hereinafter,a method of respectively assigning unique numbers to all of theapplications downloaded by the network TV according to the oneembodiment will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 28.

As shown in FIG. 28, when the user uses the remote controller 2801 tocontrol the network TV 2800 and to select an Edit icon 2820, all displayareas 2810 corresponding to each of the currently downloadedapplications may be changed to a state allowing the user to arbitrarilyinput the unique numbers. Accordingly, the user may convenientlyreconfigure (or adjust) the unique numbers respective to eachapplication based upon his (or her) own preference level or prioritylevel. Evidently, as described in the method shown in FIG. 26, theunique numbers may be personally edited and set up by the user, or theunique numbers may be automatically decided based upon profile data ofeach application, the profile data corresponding to the downloaded time,number of accesses of each application.

FIG. 29 illustrates a sixth display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. Hereinafter,a method for assigning unique applications to newly downloadedapplications in the network TV according to the one embodiment will nowbe described in detail with reference to FIG. 29.

As shown in FIG. 29, when the user uses the remote controller 2901 tocontrol the network TV 2900 and to select an Edit icon 2920, the networkTV 2900 outputs the display areas by differentiating a display area 2910corresponding to applications that are already respectively assignedwith a unique number from a display area 2930 corresponding to newlydownloaded applications that are not yet mapped to a unique number.Herein, only the display area 2930 corresponding to the newly downloadedapplications may be changed to an editable state. Referring to FIG. 29,it is assumed that unique numbers have been assigned only to the 35currently downloaded applications, and that unique numbers for sevennewly downloaded applications, which are located in the last line ofapplications, are not yet assigned.

FIG. 30 illustrates a seventh display screen displaying downloadedapplications in the network TV according to one embodiment. A method foraligning downloaded applications by the respective category anddisplaying the aligned applications will now be described in detail withreference to FIG. 30.

Referring to FIG. 30, when the network TV 3000 receives an input signalfor indicating an applications group by each category through a remotecontroller 3001 or a user interface of the network TV 3000, the networkTV 3000 uses category information (e.g., applications related to Games,applications related to News, applications related to Sports,applications related to Health, applications related to ConvenientLifestyles, and so on) of the already-downloaded applications, so as tocollect the applications by the respective category.

As shown in FIG. 30, the network TV 3000 consecutively displays displayareas 3010 of the applications related to Games, then consecutivelydisplays display areas 3020 of the applications related to ConvenientLifestyles, and then consecutively displays display areas 3030 of theapplications related to News.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 30, to enable the user to easily recognizethe applications belonging to the same category, the network TV 3000according to the present invention is designed to respectively mapconsecutive unique numbers to the categorized applications. Morespecifically, #101, #102, #103, #104, and #105 are assigned to theapplications related to Games, #201, #202, and #203 are assigned to theapplications related to Convenient Lifestyle, and #301, #302, #303,#304, #305, #306, and #307 are assigned to applications related to News.

Meanwhile, although diverse methods of displaying applications are givenas the examples in the appended drawings including FIG. 30, this ismerely exemplary. And, therefore, the scope of the embodiments describedherein is not to be limited only to the examples given herein.

For example, the present embodiments may also be applied to methods fordisplaying content, websites, Movies data, Music data, and so on.Accordingly, FIG. 30 shows an example of classifying the downloadedapplication by the respective category, all of the downloadedapplications may be grouped and displayed as a single group, or allwebsites may be grouped and displayed as a single group, or all contentsmay be grouped by the respective website and displayed accordingly.

If the network TV is designed as described above or in accordance withother embodiments described herein, the user may be capable of verifyingall of the data stored in the network TV by the respective groups. And,the user may quickly and easily access specific data by simply clickingon the respective unique number.

FIG. 31 illustrates a flow chart showing a method for controlling thenetwork TV according to one embodiment. An overall method forcontrolling the network TV according to the one embodiment will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 31. However, it is to beunderstood that the method described herein is merely exemplary.Furthermore, the method in FIG. 31 may be supplementarily interpretedand understood based upon the description given with reference to FIG. 1to FIG. 30.

The network TV processing multiple applications according to oneembodiment receives broadcast data including audio data and video datathrough a broadcast network (S3110). Thereafter, the network TVdemultiplexes the audio data and video data included in the receivedbroadcast data (S3120) and, then, decodes the demultiplexed audio dataand video data (S3130).

Subsequently, the network TV downloads at least one or more applicationsthrough an Internet network (S3140), and, when a first input signal isreceived, the network TV generates at least one or more display areascorresponding to an assigned number of each downloaded application(S3150).

Thereafter, the network TV displays image data indicating a specificapplication and a unique number corresponding to the specificapplication in each of the generated display areas (S3160). Then, when asecond input signal, which is configured for selecting the uniquenumber, is received, the network TV is controlled so that the specificapplication can be executed (S3170).

According to this or another embodiment, step S3160 may be designed tofurther include the steps of receiving a third input signal configuredto indicate a Favorite Applications group, collecting a plurality ofpredetermined favorite applications among the downloaded applications,and differentiating the collected favorite applications group from anon-favorite applications group and displaying the differentiatedapplications groups accordingly.

Most particularly, the step of differentiating the collected favoriteapplications group from a non-favorite applications group and displayingthe differentiated applications groups accordingly, may be designed toconsecutively display the display areas of the collected at least one ormore favorite applications and, then, to consecutively display thedisplay areas of the at least one or more non-favorite applications(FIG. 27).

Alternatively, the step of differentiating the collected favoriteapplications group from a non-favorite applications group and displayingthe differentiated applications groups accordingly, may also be designedto display the display areas of the collected favorite applications asselectable areas and to display the display areas of the non-favoriteapplications as non-selectable areas (FIG. 26).

According to yet another one embodiment, step S3160 may be designed tofurther include the steps of receiving a fourth input signal configuredto indicate an applications group for each category, and using categoryinformation of the downloaded applications so as to collect applicationsby each category. Alternatively, step S3160 may be designed to furtherinclude the steps of consecutively displaying display areas of at leastone or more applications belonging to a first category, andconsecutively displaying display areas of at least one or moreapplications belonging to a second category.

In accordance with another embodiment, a recording medium readable by acomputer may be provided to store a program to be executed by acomputer, processor, or other type of device for entirely or partiallyexecuting the method shown in FIG. 31 as well as the other methodsdescribed herein.

FIG. 32 illustrates a display device according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 32, a display device 3200according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention may include adisplay panel 3210, a backlight unit 3300, a cover 3230, a bottom plate3235, a driver 3240, and a back case 3250. For example, a display deviceaccording to the present invention may use LED or OLED. Detaildescriptions on the display device using the LED or OLED as follows.

The display panel 3210 is an image displaying element and may include afirst substrate 3211 and a second substrate 3212 that are positionedopposite each other and are attached to each other with a liquid crystallayer interposed therebetween. Although it is not shown, a plurality ofscan lines and a plurality of data lines may cross each other in amatrix form on the first substrate 3211 called a thin film transistor(TFT) array substrate, thereby defining a plurality of pixels. Eachpixel may include a thin film transistor capable of switching on and offa signal and a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor.

Red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filters corresponding to eachpixel and black matrixes may be positioned on the second substrate 3212called a color filter substrate. The black matrixes may surround the R,G, and B color filters and may cover a non-display element such as thescan lines, the data line, and the thin film transistors. A transparentcommon electrode covering the R, G, and B color filters and the blackmatrixes may be positioned on the second substrate 3212.

A printed circuit board (PCB) may be connected to at least one side ofthe display panel 3210 through a connection member such as a flexiblecircuit board and a tape carrier package (TCP), and the display panel3210 may be closely attached to a back surface of the bottom plate 3235in a module process.

When the thin film transistors selected by each scan line are switchedon in response to an on/off signal that is transferred from a gatedriving circuit 3213 through the scan lines, a data voltage of a datadriving circuit 3214 is transferred to the corresponding pixel electrodethrough the data lines and an arrangement direction of liquid crystalmolecules changes by an electric field between the pixel electrode andthe common electrode. Hence, the display panel 3210 having theabove-described structure displays an image by adjusting a transmittancedifference resulting from changes in the arrangement direction of theliquid crystal molecules.

The backlight unit 3300 may provide light from a back surface of thedisplay panel 3210 to the display panel 3210. The backlight unit 3300may include an optical assembly 3223 and a plurality of optical sheets3225 positioned on the optical assembly 3223. The backlight unit 3300will be described later in detail.

The display panel 3210 and the backlight unit 3300 may form a moduleusing the cover 3230 and the bottom plate 3235. The cover 3230positioned on a front surface of the display panel 3210 may be a topcover and may have a rectangular frame shape covering an upper surfaceand a side surface of the display panel 3210. An image achieved by thedisplay panel 3210 may be displayed by opening a front surface of thecover 3230.

The bottom plate 3235 positioned on a back surface of the backlight unit3300 may be a bottom cover and may have a rectangular plate shape. Thebottom plate 3235 may serve as a base element of the display device 3200when the display panel 3210 and the backlight unit 3300 form the module.

The driver 3240 may be positioned on one surface of the bottom plate3235 by a driver chassis 3245. The driver 3240 may includes a drivingcontroller 3241, a main board 3242, and a power supply unit 3243. Thedriving controller 3241 may be a timing controller and controlsoperation timing of each of driving circuits of the display panel 3210.The main board 3242 transfers a vertical synchronous signal, ahorizontal synchronous signal, and a RGB resolution signal to thedriving controller 3241. The power supply unit 3243 applies a power tothe display panel 3210 and the backlight unit 3300. The driver 3240 maybe covered by the back case 3250.

In accordance with one or more embodiments described herein, a networkTV processing multiple applications and methods for controlling the sameprovide a solution related to an on-screen display (OSD) that can enableusers to select and manage a gradually increasing number of downloadedapplications more conveniently and efficiently.

According to another embodiment, a service may be provided that enablesa network TV processing multiple applications to automaticallycategorize downloaded applications based upon a predetermined standardand to quickly access the categorized applications.

In accordance with another embodiment, a network TV processing multipleapplications and a method for controlling the same may be realized asexecutable code that can be read by a processor provided in the imagedisplay device in a recording medium that can be read by a processor.The recording medium that can be read by the processor includes alltypes of recording devices storing data that can be read by theprocessor.

Examples of a recording medium that can be read by a processor mayinclude ROMs, RAMs, CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical datastoring devices, and so on. Also, an exemplary recording medium beingrealized in the faun of a carrier wave, such as a transmission viaInternet, may also be included. Also, the recording medium that can beread by a processor may be scattered within a computer system, which isconnected through a network. And, code that can be read by the processormay be stored and executed by using a dispersion (or scattering) method.

One object that can be achieved by one or more embodiments describedherein, therefore, is to provide a network TV processing multipleapplications and a method for controlling the same can enhance userconvenience.

Another object is to provide a solution enabling the user to more easilyand efficiently select and manage the gradually increasing number ofdownloaded applications in the network TV processing multipleapplications.

Another object is to provide a service that enables the network TVprocessing multiple applications to automatically categorize downloadedapplications based upon a predetermined standard and to quickly accessthe categorized applications.

To achieve these objects and/or other advantages, one embodiment relatesto a method for controlling a network TV processing multipleapplications includes the steps of receiving broadcast data includingaudio data and video data through a broadcast network, demultiplexingthe audio data and the video data included in the received broadcastdata, decoding the demultiplexed audio data, decoding the demultiplexedvideo data, downloading at least one or more applications through anInternet network, when a first input signal is received, generating atleast one or more display areas each corresponding to a respectivenumber of the downloaded application, displaying image data indicating aspecific application and a unique number corresponding to the specificapplication in each of the generated display areas, and, when a secondinput signal for selecting the unique number is received, controllingthe network TV so that the specific application can be executed.

Another embodiment relates to a network TV processing multipleapplications includes a broadcast network interface configured toreceive broadcast data including audio data and video data, ademultiplexer configured to demultiplex the audio data and the videodata included in the received broadcast data, an audio decoderconfigured to decode the demultiplexed audio data, a video decoderconfigured to decode the demultiplexed video data, an Internet networkinterface configured to receive at least one or more applications, amemory configured to download the received at least one or moreapplications, an on-screen display (OSD) generator configured togenerate at least one or more display areas, each corresponding to arespective number of the downloaded application, when a first inputsignal is received through a user interface, a display module configuredto display image data indicating a specific application and a uniquenumber corresponding to the specific application in each of thegenerated display areas, and a controller configured to control thenetwork TV so that the specific application can be executed, when asecond input signal for selecting the unique number is received.

Another embodiment provides a method for controlling display ofinformation, comprising: receiving first data indicative of a pluralityof downloaded applications; displaying the first data in different areason a screen of a display device, each area to display the first data ofa corresponding one of the applications; assigning second data to theapplications, the second data indicative of a different order or rank ofthe applications; displaying second data with the first data on thescreen; receiving a signal selecting the second data corresponding toone of the applications; and executing the application corresponding tothe selected second data, wherein the applications are stored in astorage area in the display device or a device coupled to the displaydevice, wherein the display device is a television, and wherein thefirst data includes at least one of text, graphical objects, or imagesindicative of respective ones of the applications.

Another embodiment provides a television comprising: a screen; a firstinterface to receive first data indicative of a plurality of downloadedapplications; and a processor to control display of the first data indifferent areas of the screen, to assign second data to the plurality ofdownloaded applications, and to control display of second data with thefirst data, wherein the processor further receives a signal selectingthe second data corresponding to one of the applications and executesthe application corresponding to the selected second data, and wherein:the applications are stored in a storage area of the television, each ofthe different areas displays the first data of a corresponding one ofthe applications, the first data including at least one of text,graphical objects, or images indicative of corresponding ones of theapplications, and the second data is indicative of a different order orrank of the applications.

In accordance with any of the embodiments described herein, the networkTV may be an intelligent display apparatus that is equipped with acomputer supporting function in addition to the broadcast programreceiving function. Accordingly, since the display apparatus iscommitted (or devoted) to its broadcast program receiving function andis also supplemented with an internet browsing function, the displayapparatus may be equipped with an interface that can be moreconveniently used as compared to an hand-writing type input device, atouch screen or a space remote controller.

Furthermore, being supported with a wired or wireless (or radio)internet function, the display apparatus may be connected to (or mayaccess) the internet and a computer, thereby being capable of performingemail transmission, web browsing, internet banking or gaming functions.In order to perform such variety of functions, the display apparatus mayadopt a standardized OS for general purpose.

Accordingly, since a variety of applications may be easily added to ordeleted from a network TV within an OS kernel for general purpose, thenetwork TV described in the description of the present invention may,for example, be capable of performing a wide range of user-friendlyfunctions. More specifically, examples of the network TV may includeinternet protocol televisions (IPTVs), hybrid broadcast broadbandtelevisions (HBBTVs), smart TVs, connected TVs, and monitors, as well asother types of display devices.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments. Thefeatures of one embodiment may be combined with the features of one ormore other embodiments to form additional embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number ofillustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerousother modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled inthe art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles ofthis disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modificationsare possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subjectcombination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawingsand the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications inthe component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also beapparent to those skilled in the art.

1. A method for controlling display of information, comprising:receiving first data indicative of a plurality of downloadedapplications; displaying the first data in different areas on a screenof a display device, each area to display the first data of acorresponding one of the applications; assigning second data to theapplications, the second data indicative of a different order or rank ofthe applications; displaying second data with the first data on thescreen; receiving a signal selecting the second data corresponding toone of the applications; and executing the application corresponding tothe selected second data, wherein the applications are stored in astorage area in the display device or a device coupled to the displaydevice, wherein the display device is a television, and wherein thefirst data includes at least one of text, graphical objects, or imagesindicative of respective ones of the applications.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the signal selecting the second data is received from aremote controller.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data isdisplayed in overlapping relationship with the second data forrespective ones of the applications.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe second data includes: different numbers assigned to respective onesof the applications, wherein the first data is displayed on the screenin sequential order based on the numbers assigned to the applications.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the different numbers are assigned bya user based on a priority of importance of the applicationscorresponding to the different numbers.
 6. The method of claim 4,wherein the signal selecting the second data includes a number assignedto the application corresponding to the selected second data.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second data is displayed adjacent thesecond data for respective ones of the applications.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving third data indicative of a statusof each of the applications; displaying the third data with first dataand the second data on the screen, wherein screen areas corresponding toapplications having a first status are displayed differently from screenareas of applications having a second status.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the first status is indicative of a favorite application and asecond status is indicative of a non-favorite application.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein the second data corresponding to theapplications having a favorite status are automatically assigned anorder or rank higher than an order or rank of the applications having anon-favorite status.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the applicationshaving a favorite status are displayed separately from the applicationshaving a non-favorite status.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst and second data corresponding to the applications are displayed insequential order irrespective of status of the applications.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: displaying first data ofadditional downloaded applications differently from the first data ofapplications that have been previously assigned second data.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising: receiving second datacorresponding to one of the additional applications; and displaying anarea corresponding to said one of the additional applications betweenareas corresponding to two of the applications previously assignedsecond data.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivinginformation dividing the applications in to groups; and displaying thefirst and second data for the applications in different regions of thescreen, each region corresponding to applications that belong to a samegroup.
 16. A television comprising: a screen; a first interface toreceive first data indicative of a plurality of downloaded applications;and a processor to control display of the first data in different areasof the screen, to assign second data to the plurality of downloadedapplications, and to control display of second data with the first data,wherein the processor further receives a signal selecting the seconddata corresponding to one of the applications and executes theapplication corresponding to the selected second data, and wherein: theapplications are stored in a storage area of the television, each of thedifferent areas displays the first data of a corresponding one of theapplications, the first data including at least one of text, graphicalobjects, or images indicative of corresponding ones of the applications,and the second data is indicative of a different order or rank of theapplications.
 17. The device of claim 16, further comprising: a secondinterface to receive signals indicating the second data to be assignedto the first data indicative of the downloaded applications.
 18. Thedevice of claim 17, wherein the second interface is a remote controllerinterface.
 19. The device of claim 16, wherein the second data includes:a different number assigned to respective ones of the applications,wherein the processor controls display of the first data on the screenin sequential order based on the numbers assigned to the applications.20. The device of claim 16, wherein the signal selecting the second datais generated based on a position of a cursor overlying an area on thescreen corresponding to the selected application.